Fixture support



March 8, 1960 F. M. FISCHEL' FIXTURE SUPPORT Filed Dec. 19, 1955 INVENTOR Il L 55M BY DEZSOE STEINHERZ ATTO R N EY.

United States Patent FIXTURE SUPPORT Frank M. Fischel, New York, N.Y.

Application December 19, 1955, Serial No. 553,852

4 Claims. (Cl. 248--223) This invention relates to a fixture support and it has particular relation to a support, by which a wide variety of miscellaneous objects can be secured to a wall, or other surfaces, without the use of tools or mechanical fastening agents, e.g. screws or nails,

The main object of the present invention is'to provide a fixture support which can be fastened to a wall or other surfaces easily and without the use of tools or mechanical fastening means and to which the desired fixture can be applied whereby a firm detachable connection between the fixture and the support is obtained, likewisewithout the use of tools, or screws or nails.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an intermediate layer between the wall, or other surface, to which the support has to be attached, said intermediateqlayer being firmly and permanently connected to one surface of the support, and being adapted to be rendered adhesive in a simple manner in order to establish a firm. and durable connection between the support and the wall, or thelike.

Other objects and the advantages of the invention will be apparent from the appended claims and drawings and the following specification which illustrate by way of example and without limitation some embodiments of and best modes for carrying out the invention.

In the appended drawings Figure 1 illustrates in plan view a support embodying the invention; Fig. 2 is a section along line 2-2 of the support shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a sectional view along line 3-3 of Fig. 1, on an enlarged scale; Fig. 4 is an elevation of part of a wall, to which the support shown in Fig. 1 is fastened; Fig ure 5 is a front view of a hanger detachably connected with the support shown in Figs. l-4; Fig. 6 is a rear view of the hanger shown in Fig. 5; Figure 7 is a section through the assembled mounted unit of Fig. 1 ac-' cording to the present invention and Fig. 8 is a front view of another embodiment of the invention.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, in the embodirnent shown in Figs. 1-7 reference numeral 10- generally denotes a wall surface composed of ceramic tiles 12. A plate or'support 14 preferably consisting of a synthetic plastic material is attached to tile 12 in. the followingmanner.

To the back surface of the plastic support 14 a layer of textile material, e.g. a fabric of linen, cotton or other fibers, is adhesively secured. I have found that this can be done e.g. by applying to the back surface of plastic support 14 a volatile solvent for the plastic material of support 14 and then applying and pressing to the surface thus treated the textile material, e.g. a piece of cotton fabric, whereby a firm connection between the fabric and the plastic material is formed. To the outer surface of the textile fabric a suitable liquid, or dissolved, adhesive is subsequently applied, whereby part of the adhesive penetrates into the fabric. The fabric is shown at 16 and the adhesive layer applied to it at 18 (see Fig. 3). In order to fasten support 14 to tile 12, the adhesive layer 18 is moistened and support 14 is then pressed against tile 14 for a short period of time, e.g. 1-2 minutes. it is necessary to thoroughly clean tile 14 prior to the application of the support thereto. After acert:.in period of time, amounting, forexample, to about 24 hours a firm connection between the tile 12, intermediate textile layer 16 and support 14 is obtained.

Support or plate14 is provided with two substantially parallel spaced ends each having an arcuate cut-away portion 20 and 22 along its inner side adapted to be positioned adjacent a wall or supporting surface. The cut-away portions, with the supporting surface or wall, form upper and lower grooves which are adapted for the reception of upper and lower cylindrical rod-like elements 32 and 34 so thatv a fixture 28 (to be more fully described hereinafteryis' connected to support 14 and, over fabric layer 16 to supporting surface 12, as

best shown in Fig. 7, and is also provided with a recess 24, which hassubstantially the shape of a rectangle. and is arranged in the middleof plate 14. Two shallow recesses 26 are provided on the left and the 'rightin the drawings in the middle of the edges of recess 24. The lower end of the plate 14 is chamfered downwardly and inwardly as indicated at 22a toward the rear cut-away portion 22, and intersects the vertical wall 22b of this cut-away portion to form a detent over which the. lower rod-like element 34 is adapted to be forced after the rodlike element 32 has'been seated in the cut-away portion 20.

The fixture to be applied to support 14 is generally denoted 28 (see Figs; 5 and 6). It preferably consists of metal, but can be made also of other suitable materials. In the embodiment shown, the fixture is a hanger, e.g.: a towel hook orclothes peg. Member 28 has two parallel, rod-like elements32 and 34, which are spaced from each other at a distance corresponding substantially to the distance of cut-away portions 20 and 22 of support 14. Furthermore, a counter part or band-like part 36 having an outwardly projecting'middle portion 38 is arranged in the vertical center line of member 28. This projecting portion 38 which abuts against a rib 4-0, fits into the recess 24 of support 14, whereas parts of member 42 fit into the shallow recesses 26;

In operation the fixture28-is attached to support 14 by introducing thefirst rod-like element 32 into the upper cut-away portion 20. Then a slight pressure is exerted preferably on the lower portion of fixture 28, and this pressure causes the othenrod-like element 34 to' snap into the othercut-away portion 22 of support 14. Thereby, the band-like part 36- of fixture 28 enters the recess 24 of support 14.

'It will be appreciated that the rod-like elements 32 and 34 fit snugly, but removably into cut-away portions 26 and 22, so as to form a resilient connection between support and-fixture. The fixture can be separated from the support, by tilting the fixture 28 about the upper cutaway portion and thenfreeingeby insertion of a suitable tool, e.g.- a screw driver, 'or the like, between the lower edge of fixture 28 and tile 12, the'second rod-like element 34 and thus removing it from the lower cut-away portion 22.

Referring now to Figure 8 of the drawings, the wall generally denoted 110 consists of'tiles, such as 112, made preferably of ceramic material. A support 114 consisting preferably of plastic material is adhesively connected on its back surface with a layer of a textile material, e.g.

linen, cotton fabric or a fabric of synthetic plastic fibers and this fabric is provided with a layer consisting of a suitable adhesive material. Firm connection between support 114 and tile 112 is brought about in the same manner as described above in connection with Figs. 1-7. The support may consist also of other suitable materials, e.g. concrete,

- suspension 136.

Support 114 has a quadrilateral shape having two parallel sides 120 and 122 and two slightly converging sides, the parallel sides being cut-away. The lower side 122 of support 114 is preferably somewhat bevelled. The cut-away portions 120,122 of support 114 are -m engagement, respectively, with the horizontal parts 132 and 134 of the fixture which in this embodiment consists of a suspension shaped as a quadrilateral which corresponds substantially to the quadrilateral of support 114. The suspension 136, which consists, for example, of metal, forms part of a metallic fixture generally denoted 128. In the embodiment shown the fixture is a soap dish or holder having a part 130 projecting at right angles from In order to attach the soap dish 130 to the wall of tiles 112, the parallelhorizontal sides or bars 132 and 134 of the suspension are'brought in engagement with the cut-away portions 120 and 122 of support 114. By exerting a slight pressure in downward' direction on the soap dish 130, the cut-away portions 120 and 122 will firmly but detachably engage the horizontal parts 132 and 134 of the suspension 136. Soap and/or any other articles deposited in soap dish 130 will exert a pressure If it is desired to remove member 128 'from support.

114, it will be sufficient to'exert a slight pressure on soap dish 130 in the direction of arrow 140, whereby the bevelled edge of support 114 facilitates an easy removal of member 128 from support 114.

It will be understood from the above that this invention is not limited to specific materials, structures, designs, construction steps and other details specifically described above and illustrated in the drawings and can be carried out with various modifications. Thus for the fixtures described above, other fixtures, such as bathroom accessories, lamps, wall clocks, pictures, mirrors, hooks, towel holders, shelves, ashtrays, tumbler holders, toilet paper holders and others can be substituted and these fixtures may consist of materials other than metals, e.g. plastics, or ceramic materials.

The support may, for example, consist of wood, metals, ceramic materials, or laminated plastics, and can be also fastened to walls consisting e.g. of tiles, glass, plaster, wood, plywood, or metallic surfaces. If the support consists of materials other than plastics, then the intermediate fabric layer is fastened thereto by means of a suitable, conventional adhesive. These and other modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

As examples of plastic materials which the support member of the invention consists of, acrylic plastics, e.g.

polymethacrylate, polystyrene and polyvinyl chloride port, the latter is treated with a conventional solvent,

e.g. the polymethacrylate and the polyvinyl chloride material with methylethyl ketone, and the polystyrene with an aromatic hydro-carbon solvent, e.g. toluene. The adhesive used for fastening the support to the wall or the like becomes adhesive upon moistening with water and may be a suitable conventional casein glue or starch glue composition.

The support member according to my invention may form a unitary piece with thefixture, for example if the support member and the fixture, e.g. a hook, form a single piece of molded plastic or a single metallic piece, said single piece thus comprising the fixture as well as the support member. The latter has a flat surface to which the intermediate textile layer provided'with adhesive is fastened.

What is claimed is:

1. In combination a fixture and a wall engaging support member, said support member comprising a generally flat plate having longitudinally extending cut-away portions in its upper and lower ends respectively, said cut-away portions defining with the wall upper and lower grooves, the lower end of said plate being chamfered downwardly and inwardly to define by its juncture with said lower cut-away portion a detent, said fixture having a recess for receiving said fiat support plate, a pair of parallel cylindrical rod-like elements secured in said recess adjacent to the upper and lower edges thereof, said cylindrical rod-like elements being adapted to seat in said upper and lower grooves defined by said cut-away portions and said wall, said grooves being of such a height that the lower rod-like element'may be guided over said chamfered lower end and the detent formed thereby and snapped into said lower groove after disposition of said upper rod-like element in said upper groove.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein an adhesive is applied to the back wall of said support member for securing the same to said wall.

3. A combination as claimed in claim 1, said support member having a textile fabric ,layer adhesively secured to its surface averted from said fixture member, the outer surface of said fabric being provided with an adhesive layer for firmly connecting said attachment to a support ing surface.

4. A combination as claimed in claim 1, a recess arranged in the middle of the support member and a counterpart rigidly connected with the fixture member between the rod-like elements thereof, said counterpart fitting into said recess of the support member.

References Cited inthe file of this patent V UNITED STATES PATENTS 

